Dawn Farmcompassionate, affordable care for addictions2015-07-31T18:35:55Zhttp://www.dawnfarm.org/feed/atom/WordPressjschwartzhttp://www.dawnfarm.orghttp://www.dawnfarm.org/?p=126122015-01-16T11:45:03Z2015-01-16T11:44:46ZTake a listen to how growing some of our own food and raising animals benefits Dawn Farm and why we love our farm so much!

]]>0jschwartzhttp://www.dawnfarm.orghttp://www.dawnfarm.org/?p=125832014-12-09T17:40:27Z2014-12-09T17:40:27ZThis semester, a group of social work students from EMU took on the daunting project of transforming a basement room at our 2208 employment center. The goal was a create a space for interview clothes, a small food pantry, and basic household supplies. These are the BEFORE pics: Our social work students made an AMAZING […]

]]>This semester, a group of social work students from EMU took on the daunting project of transforming a basement room at our 2208 employment center. The goal was a create a space for interview clothes, a small food pantry, and basic household supplies.
These are the BEFORE pics:

Our social work students made an AMAZING transformation at 2208. They cleaned, painted, coordinated donation drives, and organized to create a welcoming, usable space.
Thanks to Shelby, Daryl, Darlene, Tiffany, Jaime, and Katherine from EMU for your hard work and kindness!
These are the AFTER pics:

]]>0jschwartzhttp://www.dawnfarm.orghttp://www.dawnfarm.org/?p=124912014-11-17T11:32:52Z2014-11-17T11:30:08ZDawn Farm was mentioned in an article in Modern Farmer magazine about therapeutic farms for addiction recovery! Rehabilitation programs on farms exist in the United States, too. “Meaningful work is part of the recovery experience,” says Jason Schwartz, clinical director at Dawn Farm, a small rehabilitation center in Ypsilanti, Michigan, where recovering addicts work in the […]

Rehabilitation programs on farms exist in the United States, too. “Meaningful work is part of the recovery experience,” says Jason Schwartz, clinical director at Dawn Farm, a small rehabilitation center in Ypsilanti, Michigan, where recovering addicts work in the garden, kitchen and with farm animals. “Addiction is very isolating, and any kind of suffering tends to make people self-centered, to focus on their suffering alone. Getting them to focus on the needs of other living things can be powerful.”

]]>0jschwartzhttp://www.dawnfarm.orghttp://www.dawnfarm.org/?p=124632014-11-27T00:45:38Z2014-11-11T18:41:11ZSometimes a single event makes the difference. Kevin has never been to Dawn Farm for treatment—not our Detox, residential or even outpatient. But Kevin’s story is profoundly linked to the Farm. On a Tuesday night in 1998, in Dawn Farm’s living room, everything changed for him. Kevin was born in Grand Haven, Michigan, a child […]

Kevin has never been to Dawn Farm for treatment—not our Detox, residential or even outpatient. But Kevin’s story is profoundly linked to the Farm.

On a Tuesday night in 1998, in Dawn Farm’s living room, everything changed for him.

Kevin was born in Grand Haven, Michigan, a child with identified potential but difficulty fitting in. He took his first drink of alcohol when he was 8 years old.

By the time he was 10 or 11, Kevin was drinking alone—to reduce his feeling of discomfort around others. “Drinking really calmed me down and made me feel OK in my own skin.”

He drank throughout high school, dropping out with only a half credit to go. But Kevin always had an entrepreneurial spirit, and before he went back and got his diploma he had started a retail business and secured a sales job with a Fortune 500 company.

But in the early 1990’s Kevin’s fortunes suffered. He blamed it on the economy, but his drinking played a huge role. A long line of psychiatrists and therapists were unable to help him find relief. As each year passed, Kevin drank more, and he sank into homelessness and daily drinking. When he couldn’t afford booze, he huffed gasoline.

“I once had a bartender defend me to some other patrons by saying, ‘He’s an alcoholic and he doesn’t have any friends.’ Sadly, it was absolutely true.”

Kevin was back in college when he came to the Dawn Farm Education Series for a class and heard the “Addiction 101” lecture.

“I had never heard anything like that. The presenter talked about me with real knowledge—and he said there was a way to get rid of the alcoholic ‘noise’ in my head.”

Kevin started to leave after the lecture—but then returned to talk. He was invited to a 12-step meeting the next night.

“For the first time, I had a little bit of hope. I went to that meeting and could identify. I believed them when they said I could feel better.”

Kevin left that meeting with a sponsor and 15 phone numbers and has been sober ever since. He is busy with helping other alcoholics and active in the recovering community.

After years as a national sales rep, in 2013 Kevin and a partner opened Today Clothing, a sleek, contemporary store specializing in recognized craftsmanship and modern creativity. The store is already an Ann Arbor hotspot.

Sobriety has brought Kevin great things—all from a brief encounter on a Tuesday night.

“If you can get out of your own way and ask for help, please believe that the help is there. You only need the right moment to find that recovery is possible—and that we can help you stop hurting.

“I’d be happy to tell you how I did it—and to introduce you to a few of my friends.”

]]>0DawnFarmhttp://www.dawnfarm.org/http://dawnfarm.flywheelsites.com/?p=114742014-11-14T12:04:25Z2014-10-21T11:47:27ZI wanted to pass on this blog post that our friend Jesse (the leader of the permaculture group we’ve been working with) made recently. Very exciting stuff! It’s a great post and includes drawings of the plans for this coming year. ==================== AMPY is proud to partner with Dawn Farm and in particular Grace Yoder […]

]]>I wanted to pass on this blog post that our friend Jesse (the leader of the permaculture group we’ve been working with) made recently. Very exciting stuff! It’s a great post and includes drawings of the plans for this coming year.

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AMPY is proud to partner with Dawn Farm and in particular Grace Yoder for the generous community offer to share a portion of their 65 acre farm just South of Ypsilanti. Dawn Farm is a non-profit, substance abuse recovery center with an integrated petting farm that features an ever shifting mosaic of llamas, chickens, pigs, turkey, duck, sheep, and cattle. Clients at Dawn Farm work on the farm (annual vegetable production and animal care) as part of their treatment.

We couldn’t be happier to partner with such a care-based and integrated social service, thank you Dawn Farm! Grace Yoder has been managing the annual vegetable production area and has opened up the space for many people, with various farming/gardening enterprises coming and going throughout the years. Currently this is the broad layout of DF.

All maps are positioned facing South and the quadrants are numbered somewhat arbitrarily 1-5. The “Food Forest” at the SW corner is currently a small apple orchard. Last year AMPY members worked to sheet mulch around the trees to help suppress weed and grass competition and added root cuttings of Comfrey, Daylily clumps, and Wild Mint. We hope to further bolster the orchard into a full fledged Food Forest complete with functional diversity of species (Service Berry, Currants, Gooseberry, Sea Buckthorn, and Elderberry). Here’s closer view of 1 and 2.

To the right of the Open Space area is where Grace, clients, and volunteers focus their attention on annual vegetable production, with the produce going to client meals. To the right of that area is the main building which has ample food storage space and potential for storing root crops all year. The Jamboree Area is parking for DF’s annual Jamboree celebration in September.

The Woodlot area is mostly Cottonwood (Populus deltoides) and has begun to be selectively harvested for mushroom production. Mushroom species include Oyster, Shitake, Reishi, and Turkey Tail. Mushroom yeilds are for AMPY members and Dawn Farm clients. We are looking forward to Spring inoculations!

]]>0DawnFarmhttp://www.dawnfarm.org/http://dawnfarm.org/?p=120682014-11-05T01:03:59Z2014-09-08T19:11:31ZOn Sunday, September 7th, The Detroit Free Press is published “The Detroit Free Press Top Workplaces” – a list of the best places to work in the State of Michigan. We are proud to let you know that Dawn Farm has been named to the list for the 6th year in a row. The evaluation […]

]]>On Sunday, September 7th, The Detroit Free Press is published “The Detroit Free Press Top Workplaces” – a list of the best places to work in the State of Michigan. We are proud to let you know that Dawn Farm has been named to the list for the 6th year in a row.

The evaluation for the Top Workplaces program is based upon feedback from an employee surveys completed by more than 41,000 employees from 207 employers from around the state. On November 16th, the Free Press will publish a full Top Workplaces special section, including in-depth features on some of the Top Workplaces.

Thanks to all of our passionate, fun and hard-working staff who make Dawn Farm an amazing place of hope and recovery!

]]>0DawnFarmhttp://www.dawnfarm.org/http://dawnfarm.org/?p=120512014-11-05T01:09:31Z2014-08-28T23:49:38ZA BIG Dawn Farm thank you to the U of M Law School Students for spending their service day with us at the Farm!A little bit of gardening, some painting, sprucing up of the Gift Shop and lots more made for a fun-filled, productive day! Thanks! Post by Dawn Farm.

]]>0DawnFarmhttp://www.dawnfarm.org/http://dawnfarm.org/?p=117242014-10-29T10:37:58Z2014-06-02T23:50:31ZOne of the more exciting developments out here at the farm has been the revamping of our compost system. We had thrown the whole thing together out in the field behind the garden with bins made from t-posts and old bunk bed frames. Within these bins, we piled high all the farm’s manure, garden waste, […]

]]>One of the more exciting developments out here at the farm has been the revamping of our compost system. We had thrown the whole thing together out in the field behind the garden with bins made from t-posts and old bunk bed frames. Within these bins, we piled high all the farm’s manure, garden waste, and a fair amount of old vegetable scraps from our local co-op. It worked! Even though we didn’t manage it as intensively as we could, good old Mother Earth always works her magic and we were getting some usable compost despite our neglect. Below is a photo of the old site earlier in the spring.

It was often kind of beautiful early in the cool spring mornings, the mounds of organic material letting off steam from all the microbial activity.

However, we did suspect that there was a better, cleaner, more efficient way of doing all this. So we called our old pal Jesse out at Starr Valley Farms to come out and assess the situation. He scoped out our site and the volume of waste we have, and recommended a simple 8′x6′ in-ground vermicompost bin. We could hardly believe how condensed the set up could be with the help of a bunch of worms!

This is the practice of using worms in a system that helps us break down compostable materials into usable compost called “worm castings”.

Worm castings are an especially rich form of compost- boasting higher nutrient values and moisture retention than other forms of compost.

These castings contain a wealth of microbes that aide in the bioavailability of those nutrients for the plants they feed. It also contains a special substance that the worms provide that helps the finished compost hold its nutrient value.

This results in a highly prized finished product that can greatly improve the health of a garden. In addition to the high nutrient values, it also helps to suppress plant disease.

The worms do all the work turning and digesting the pile, resulting in much less work for us.

It is so efficient that it means a much smaller, less smelly operation.

It reduces pest issues. While open compost piles might invite animals to feast or nest, worm bins are pest free.

It’s the gift that keeps giving! Worms will multiply and provide not only amazing compost, but we can also harvest the worms themselves! We can share or sell these critters to interested folks in the community. Worm farming can be successful in any setting- it’s an especially good option for apartment dwellers!

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Anyway, our system came together very quickly- a hole dug 2 feet down and lined with hardware cloth, sturdy cinderblock walls, and a lid to keep the light and heat out.

Once it was all put together, we added a good layer of peat moss at the bottom as bedding for the worms.

Then we added 5,000 red wigglers to the bin!

We gave them a little food out of our old compost piles and covered it with some wet cardboard. Easy!

A big thank you to Jesse (pictured below) from Starr Valley Farms for helping us set up such an awesome system. He’s going to be helping us learn about our new wiggly friends throughout the whole season- from basic care and maintenance to how to harvest the worms and the finished castings. We’ll be sure to update on all the ins and outs of this adventure!

]]>0DawnFarmhttp://www.dawnfarm.org/http://dawnfarm.org/?p=116852014-10-29T10:37:58Z2014-05-21T18:23:29ZThere are so many cool things happening in the gardening world. People are experimenting with fun new techniques- all with the aim of better food, greater access to that food, and smarter designs that limit the demand for land and labor. These are designs that free us up to do more with less. Here at […]

]]>There are so many cool things happening in the gardening world. People are experimenting with fun new techniques- all with the aim of better food, greater access to that food, and smarter designs that limit the demand for land and labor. These are designs that free us up to do more with less. Here at the farm we are hopping on that train. Our garden currently occupies about a half an acre. Right now it is designed to feed the clients at our main residential facility (about 25-35 people) with fresh veggies throughout the growing season, and a little leftover to store. Eventually it would be wonderful to expand the garden’s service to feed more of our clients and the public. What if we could gradually achieve this without the need for more space and energy, but rather through the implementation of a smarter design? These are some of the concepts we’re playing around with here at the farm.

Introducing the “Strawberry Barrel”. We saw examples like this on the internet, mostly for people in urban spaces with limited access to land. Why not try it on a farm? It was a simple and cheap project, and will be useful for years to come. We found some cheap food grade 55 gallon barrels on craigslist. 12 of them, all together. We removed the tops and put holes in the sides all around, about 20 holes per barrel, give or take a few.

We also drilled some holes in the bottom for drainage. These barrels were once filled with apple cider vinegar!

Then they were set out in the garden and filled with soil.

Here is one, all planted up with strawberries. We transplanted them from another area of the garden. In that area, they occupied approximately 1,875 square feet. In general, strawberries are planted about 12″ apart. This vertical method means we fit about 25-30 plants in 4 square feet. Quite a savings! They did go through some transplant shock, but are bouncing back well after a couple of rains. This means we have the entire area where they used to live that can now be used for other annual vegetables.

We’ll be sure to keep you updated on how this experiment is going. We had some extra strawberry plants that we’re transplanting into some perennial gardens and around the main house, so we’ll be able to examine them in different areas/conditions in order learn more.